The Thalidomide of the 90's is Aspartame, otherwise known as Equal, Nutrasweet or Spoonful.

In May, 1992 an article in Flying Safety Magazine explained the dangers of this ubiquitous substance. Some people have triggered aspartame related disorders with doses as small as that carried in a single stick of chewing gum. This could mean a pilot who drinks diet sodas is more susceptible to flicker vertigo or to flicker-induced epileptic activity. It also means that all pilots are potential victims of sudden memory loss, dizziness during instrurnent flight and gradual loss of vision. Some pilots have experienced grand mal seizures in the cockpits of commercial airline flights and have lost medical certification to fly-and with it their careers.

The FDA has received more than 10,000 consumer complaints on Nutra-Sweet. That's 80% of all complaints about food additives, yet they have done nothing to alert the American consumer who assumes, since it's so highly advertised, that it must be safe as mother's milk. If you are using aspartame and have headaches, depression, slurred speech. loss of memory, fibromyalgia type symptoms, loss of sensation in lower legs or shooting pains, loss of equilibrium, vertigo, anxiety attacks, chronic fatigue, vision loss, floaters, retinal detachment, seizures, heart palpitations, etc., you have Aspartame Disease! Many physicians are diagnosing multiple sclerosis when in reality it is methanol toxicity which mimics MS. Get off this dangerous drug right away. MS is not a death sentence, but methanol toxicity can be!

Fifty-one percent of FDA approved drugs have serious risks and could cause adverse reactions that lead to severe or permanent disability or death. The Center for Disease Control, Johns Hopkins University and the New Jersey School of Medicine estimate that 80,000-120,000 Americans are killed by prescription drugs every year. That this atrocious holocaust persists has everything to do with money and nothing to do with public health. Monsanto reaps $2 billion per year from the Aspartame toxic bonanza. This can buy a lot of bureaucrats! The FDA works for industry, not citizens. FDA head Arthur Hayes overruled his own board of inquiry to approve aspartame and then went to work for their public relations firm.

Federal attorney Sam Skinner was assigned to prosecute Searle for fraudulent tests in their application, but switched sides and went to work for Searle's lawyers and the case died when the statute of limitations ran out. Honest FDA toxicologist, the late Dr. Adrian Gross, wrote to Senator Howard Metzenbaum: "The views of the FDA's Center for Food Safety read like a script written for Abbott & Costello in the sense of their having perceptions inside-out and upside-down. ... FDA may have gone through the motions. ... such a 'process' or dance represents a farce and a mockery."

Nutrasweet is in about 9,000 foods and on every restaurant table for the same reasons tobacco is everywhere: Greed, addiction and profit! The NutraSweet Company and sister Searle, whose chemists discovered aspartame while testing an ulcer drug, are owned by Monsanto. If you are taking other medicine, consider possible reactions you may have. In 1969, Searle approached Dr. Harry Waisman to study the effects of aspartame on primates. Seven infant monkeys were fed the chemical in milk. One died after 300 days; five others had grand mal seizures. Searle deleted these findings when they submitted this study to the FDA! The best way to understand NutraSweet is to think of it as a minute dose of nerve gas that eradicates brain and nerve functions. Some diseases triggered by aspartame include brain tumors and other cancers, Alzheimers, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, epilepsy, mental retardation, fibromyalgia, lymphoma, Graves disease, birth defects, chronic fatigue syndrome, systemic lupus, Epstein Barr, Parkinsons and ... death!

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology surveyed 80 people who suffered brain seizures after eating or drinking products with aspartame. Said the Community Nutrition Institute: "These 80 cases meet the FDWs own definition of an imminent hazard to the public health, which requires the FDA to expeditiously remove a product from the market."

America is seeing a tremendous increase in seizures. Phenylalanine in aspartame lowers the seizure threshold in the brain and blocks serotonin production. Today our nation is swept by a rage of violence. Researchers attribute this in part to low brain serotonin levels inducing depression, rage and paranoia. So President Clinton, Diet Coke in hand, programs billions of dollars to buy penitentiaries for the paranoid. Fetal tissue cannot tolerate methanol and Dr. James Bowen calls NutraSweet instant birth control. The fetal placenta can concentrate phenylalanine and cause mental retardation. Aspartame tests on animals produced brain and mammary tumors. During Operation Desert Storm truckloads of diet drinks cooked in the Arabian sun and at 86 degrees aspartame liberates methanol in the can! Thousands of service men and women returned home with chronic fatigue syndrome and weird toxic symptoms.

The synthesized components of Aspartame are Phenylalanine (50%), Aspartic Acid (40%) and 10% Methyl ester which converts to methanol. Methyl (wood) alcohol is poisonous to man when it stands alone. As a constitutient of other foods in nature, it is in combination with ethyl alcohol, which counteracts (or neutralizes) the ethanol as it is metabolized. (There is no ethyl alcohol is aspartame).

Methanol from aspartame is in "free form" and immediately absorbed into the bloodstream, then converts to formaldehyde. The formaldehyde converts to formic acid, (ant sting poison). Toxic formic acid is used as an activator for strip epoxy and urethane coatings. Both formaldehyde and formic acid are considered carcinogens.

Phenylalanine facilitates seizures, causes mental retardation in PKU indviduals lowers or blocks production of Serotonin, which results in increased craving for carbohydrates. Evidence shows that it is anything but a diet drink.

Aspartic acid is an excitotoxin, which has been shown to cause "holes" or lesions in the brains of mice.

On July 28, 1993, the National Soft Drink Association drafted a 30-page protest questioning the safety of aspartame in soft drinks. Then they found weight-conscious Americans would sip soda all day if it was sugarless, so they forgot their objections; nor did they tell us that aspartame makes you crave carbohydrates and so you gain weight. The formaldehyde stores in the fat cells, particularly on the hips and thighs. Drink diet soda, get fat now and later develop seizures, diabetes, blindness, Epstein Barr, MS, depression and death.

Similarly, the American Diabetic Association, which now receives mega-funds from NutraSweet, ignored a 1987 abstract submitted by Dr. H. J. Roberts (world expert on aspartame and diabetic specialist) summarizing 58 diabetic aspartame reactors. He says: "I now advise all patients with diabetes and hypoglycemia to avoid aspartame products." In his book Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills, Russell Blaylock, MD, a neurosurgeon, says aspartarne may trigger clinical diabetes! (This is the definitive text for those who need more information) He says that excitotoxins such as NutraSweet literally stimulate neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees. "What really concerns me about aspartame," he says, "is its association with brain tumors as well as pancreatic, uterine and ovarian tumors. ... and that so many develop an Alzheimers-like syndrome with prolonged exposure."

Many will state that Nutrasweet has been carefully analyzed by scientists and found to be safe. An analysis of peer reviewed medical literature using MEDLINE and other databases was conducted by Ralph G. Walton, MD, Chairman, The Center for Behavioral Medicine, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. Dr. Walton analyzed 164 studies which were felt to have relevance to human safety questions. Of those studies, 74 studies had aspartame industry-related sponsorship and 90 were funded without any industry money.

Of the 90 non-industry-sponsored studies, 83 (92%) identified one or more problems with aspartame. Of the 7 studies which did not find a problems, 6 of those studies were conducted by the FDA. Given that a number of FDA officials went to work for the aspartame industry immediately following approval (including the former FDA Commissioner), many consider these studies to be equivalent to industry-sponsored research. Of the 74 aspartame industry-sponsored studies, all 74 (100%) claimed that no problems were found with aspartame. This is reminiscent of tobacco industry research where it is primarily the tobacco research which never finds problems with the product, but nearly all of the independent studies do find problems.

The 74 aspartame industry-sponsored studies are those which one inveriably sees cited in PR/news reports and reported by organizations funded by Monsanto / Benevia / NutraSweet (e.g., IFIC, ADA). These studies have severe design deficiencies which help to guarantee the "desired" outcomes. These design deficiencies may not be apparent to the inexperienced scientist.

"ASPARTAME KILLS!" THOUSANDS SAY

by Beth Benko

It is being called the crime of the century; a world plague.

Victims of this crime include unborn infants to the elderly, and are dying from the advice of their own doctors.

But other eminent doctors are exposing this international horror, covered up by governments and media across the globe.

The weapon is aspartame. The killers are corporations who have invested billions to convince the public it is safe.

"Aspartame should never have been put on the market. That is my opinion," states Dr. H. J. Roberts in a recent telephone interview. He remarked that there are still First Amendment rights in this country. However, his opinion holds the weight equaling a Supreme Court decision, judging by his bio, which reads more like a full medical report.

H. J. Roberts, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.C.C.P is world renowned, and although he is famous and has practiced medicine a long time, he takes his boards over and brings them up-to-date to show that he is as up-to-date as current doctors. (Doctors are not required to do so.) Dr. Roberts is certified and re- certified in Internal Medicine (by choice). and is a member or fellow of dozens of medical associations, including American Medical Association,Florida Medical Association, and American College of Physicians, to name just a few.

He is listed in the Best Doctors in the U.S., and in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in Frontier Science and Technology and Who's Who in the South and Southwest, l960 to present.

Roberts' publications include ten acclaimed texts and more than 220 original articles and letters; many on research in challenging neurological disorders. His new book is a medical text exceeding 800 pages, and is not the first one that he or other doctors have written exposing aspartame as the scientifically proven culprit which causes more than 92 different symptoms.

The FDA was finally forced in 1995 by the Freedom of Information Act to reveal these 92 documented symptoms triggered by this additive. The report listed 10,000 consumer complaints. "A car would be recalled for less," emphasized those who are trying to educate the public on the amazing corporation cover-ups that have occurred over this "food additive."

For almost 20 years, people have been fighting the placing of aspartame in food and drinks due to the outrage of the reactions.

Three Senate hearings were held due to the preponderance of evidence showing aspartame is toxic. A summary from the Board Of Inquiry and the FDA's own audit, the Bressler Report, can be found on www.dorway.com showing that aspartame was never proven safe.

On "60 Minutes" in 1996, when Dr. John Olney made world news on the Aspartame/Brain Tumor Association, Dr. Ralph Walton discussed his peer- reviewed research showing 83 out of independent studies revealed problems with aspartame. Often independent research is ignored.

Victims Speak Out

A patient in Georgia testified on Internet sites whose goal is to eliminate this chemical from the market that she believed the FDA approval, thinking that it meant aspartame was perfectly safe. She used about 12 packs of Equal in hot coffee each day.

Victims just like her say that they experienced depression and vertigo at first, followed by cramping in the arms and legs, along with other pains. Some experienced insomnia, blindness and memory loss. They report that their eye doctors couldn't explain their vision loss. In 1986, the community nutrition institute in Washington, D.C. petitioned the FDA to remove aspartame because hundreds were going blind, and experiencing seizures. The FDA refused.

Many physicians regularly make incorrect diagnosis on aspartame victims. Aspartame mimics Multiple Sclerosis, according to H. J. Roberts. He also says that aspartame actually precipitates diabetes, keeps blood sugar out of control and causes diabetics to go into confulsions. Russell Blaylock, MD., says the in his report "The Taste That Kills" that aspartame is triggering autism and ADD. James Bowen, M.D. says aspartame is an adjuvant and turns the body against itself which triggers lupus, and that it is a chelating agent.

Aspartame is a seizure triggering drug, and in a study used as in the approval of aspartame (SC18862) a 52 week oral toxicity study with infant monkeys caused 5 out of 7 of these monkeys to have grand mal seizures. One died.

In addition, two reports by Roberts in the Townsend Letter for Doctors go into addiction and Carpal Tunnel.

She is called "Roberts' Angel," but has become a thorn in the side of Monsanto and the FDA.. Thousands of people are very happy about that.

But Mrs. Betty Martini, Founder of Mission Possible has admitted that the most stunning progress was made by a woman who, for some reason, decided to plagiarize a report she wrote.

"She has saved, probably, 100,000 people, at least," quipped Martini.

The famous "Nancy Markle" letter hit the Internet at an obscure moment a couple years ago, and with the lightening speed of small town gossip, triggered an uproar around the globe within days. It has been described by the aspartame fighters as the "shot that was heard around the world."

This report originally was written by Betty Martini about a lecture she had given about Aspartame at the World Environmental Conference held at Elizabeth City State University in 1995. She had been invited by the EPA, and her trip was funded through the office of Environmental Justice. It has actually been on the Internet on a website called DORway.com for several years. Then for some reason, it began to circulate with Nancy Markle's name on it.

(It is interesting to note that after this letter hit, the EPA denied there was a World Environmental Conference.)

As a result, hundreds of reporters from countries like New Zealand, Hong Kong, England and Australia, called her at all hours of the night, because it wasn't too hard for internet enthusiasts to figure out that the letter was written by Martini.

As consumers got off aspartame and their symptoms disappeared, they even began to write songs to Nancy Markle, like "Won't you come home Nan Markle, won't you come home!" to the tune of Bill Bailey.

This letter then found it's way to hospitals, clinics, medical organizations emergency rooms and victims of aspartame throughout the world. Two support groups have been set up on the Internet to assist the victims. The support groups have now grown to four, one in spanish. In addition, four detoxification centers for aspartame victims have opened across the country.

So Martini gladly gives the mysterious Markle credit. She is just happy about the results that have come about from this defraud. She was more interested, in a telephone interview, to focus on the problem.

"I assure you that Monsanto, the creator of aspartame, knows how deadly it is. They funded the American Diabetic Association, American Dietetic Association and other trade organizations which provide physi-cians and consumers information on aspartame (Nutrasweet/Equal/Spoonful). The FDA sends out their information in the IFIC brochure (International Food Information Council Foundation). This information is rebutted with medical references on www.dorway.com and www.holisticmed.com/aspartame."

She added, "The New York Times, on November 15, 1996, ran an article on how the American Dietetic Association takes money from the food industry to endorse their products. So, they never criticize any additives or tell about their link to Monsanto."

This aristocratic, southern lady continued with the intellect of an ivy league lawyer, the medical knowledge of any physician and the accuracy and speed of an auctioneer, producing fact after case history of people who were dying, and government agencies who tried to deny it.

Another of her fellow activists commented about asking the FDA or Monsanto about Aspartame, "It's like asking the Mafia about the crime rate." She said much research confirms aspartame toxicity as do 80% of complaints the FDA has received on food additives. She added that heated aspartame is the most hazardous. Now FDA has approved its use in baked goods. In 1996, the FDA gave grant blanket approval for aspartame to be used like sugar.

Martini stated about the symptoms revealed by the FDA that additives are suppose to be inert by law and do not interact with drugs and change brain chemistry. "Aspartame is about as inert as Mt. Vesuvius when it erupts," she added.

The latest attempt by the world-wide group of Mission Possible has been to contact Michael J. Fox who has Parkinson's Disease. Michael Fox, star of Spin City, Family Ties and many movies, once asked how a 30-year-old man would get this old man's disease. Michael Fox has also been a Diet Pepsi spokesman. An informant says he drinks Diet Pepsi's constantly.

Aspartame/NutraSweet that is in Diet Pepsi is a neurotoxin that triggers neurodegenerative diseases, and can precipitate Parkinson's. Information from "Aspartame (NutraSweet) Is It Safe?" by H. J. Roberts, M.D., and "Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills" by neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, establishes that aspartame changes the dopamine level of the brain. Aspartame is a drug that changes the dopamine level of the brain. "There is no way for Michael to improve until someone gets him off the Diet Pepsi," said Martini.

Pilots Go Blind

Pilots are having grand mal seizures in the cockpits of commercial airliners. Five heavy users of aspartame pilots for American Airlines have died, one in flight.

Aviation magazines all over the world have printed articles warning pilots against aspartame consumption over the past 15 years. The FAA has said that they cannot officially make a statement until FDA confirms aspartame as dangerous.

But the US Air Force in their Flying Safety notified pilots "People have suffered disorders with doses as small as that carried in a single stick of chewing gum. This could mean a pilot who drinks diet sodas is more susceptible to flicker vertigo or to flicer induced epileptic activity.... all pilots are potential victims of sudden memory loss, dizziness during instrument flight and gradual loss of vision." May 92.

Roberts wrote in the October 14,1989 issue of The Palm Beach Post: "Several recent plane accidents underscore the need for further inquiry into a heretofore neglected cause of pilot and driver error: conusion and aberrant behavior caused by products containing aspartame (NutraSweet)."

He has repeatedly pointed out possible connections with diet drinks and pilot behavior and related problems in many scientific articles and addresses over the past three years. These are based on personal observations and a nationwide study. He conducted a study with 157 persons with aspartame induced confusion and memory loss. The subjects included trained pilots who developed these and other neurologic psychiatric features — including convulsions and visual problems.

Mission Possible has several sites to visit for more information. Their websites also invites visitors to research the other side, and have links to listen to the supporters of Aspartame. They warn you to ask who pays for these sources.

Food for thought. However, there is NO doubt that aspartame should never have been approved... for any type of purpose.

A Neurologist discusses Nutrasweet/Aspartame

In a letter from neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D., to a Neuropathy Association dated February 10, l999 he said: " .. recent findings have shed some light on the elusive compound (aspartame/Nutrasweet) and its deleterious effects of the human population. .. Aspartame and L- aspartyl L- phenylalanine methylester, is composed of two amino acids, aspartate and phenylalanine, linked by methanol. Inside the gastrointestinal tract, especially in the stomach it is broken down into its constitutent components . In some instances the dipeptide is lysed within the cells of the gut. As a consequence the methanol is rapidly absored and distributed throughout the tissues of the body. Within the tissues substantial amounts of methanol's two metabolic breakdown products (formaldehyde and formic acid) have been shown to accumulate in many tissues."

Further he said: " These breakdown products, formaldehyde and formic acid, have been shown in several important studies, to be extremely toxic to tissues in very small doses. In fact, even small doses of formaldehyde are considered to be carcinogenic. A recent study by Trocho, Pardo and co-workers, have demonstrated that following aspartame ingestion, significant amounts of formaldehyde accumulate in the tissues. Formaldehyde is known to bind strongly to proteins and nucleic acids , forming adducts that are extremely difficult to eliminate through normal metabolic pathways."

"In this study, they demonstrated that labeled methanol (as formaldehyde) accumulated in high concentrations in the liver (50%) and in lower, but substantial, concentrations in the kidney , adipose tissue, brain and retina. Within the cell, they found large amounts located within the DNA. It was interesting to note ethat these doses were lower than that used in toxicity studies. Previous studies have shown that very high doses of aspartame may not cause acute symptomatology. This study indicates that the damage may necessitate longer periods of time to manifest itself, and that the eventual effects can be quite deleterius."

"The doses used were within those recommended by the FDA as ADI for humans . This is especially of conern in children who may consume doses of aspartame as high as 75 to 90mg/kg. It is also important to note that in this study, the formaldehyde was accumulative as were its injury to cellular proteins and DNA. In the real life situation, humans are exposed to repeated doses of saspartame found in many foods, drinks, medicines and chewing gum."

"An earlier study by Shephard and co -workers, it was found that aspartame is nitrosated within the gut and that this nitrosation of the amine group is "quite cytotoxic" and represents a moderately strong mutagen in the Ames test."

"Another recent study, by Sorg, Willis and co-workers is also alarming. In this study, it was found that prolonged exposure to low concentrations of formaldehyde could cause chemical sensitization to cocaine, via a limbic mechanism. With increasing reports of multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome, one must be concerned about chronic low dose formaldehyde exposure via aspartame."

"It is my opinion, and the opinion of many others, that aspartame is a dangerous neurotoxin and its use should be discouraged generally, but especially so in those harboring neurological diseases."

"an imminent health hazard since it causes blindness, loss of memory, convulsions and Alzheimer's disease... Walk into any grocery store - it's almost impossible to find a food product that does not contain Aspartame ..."

Aspartame is a molecule composed of three components: aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol. Once ingested, the methanol, which is wood alcohol that has killed or blinded thousands of skid row drunks, converts into formaldehyde and formic acid (Ant Sting Poison). Formaldehyde, a deadly neurotoxin, is a common embalming fluid and a Class A Carcinogen (cancer-causing agent). Phenylalanine is also neurotoxic when unaccompanied by the other amino acids in proteins.

Some suggest that the best way to think of NutraSweet is as a minute dose of nerve gas that eradicates brain and nerve functions. The large majority (75%) of neural cells in a particular area of the brain are killed before any clinical symptoms of a chronic illness are noticed.

Because of their widespread presence in thousands of foods, Aspartame products are considered to be some of the most dangerous toxins in our society. We are dosed with millions of pounds every year.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has received more than 10,000 consumer complaints on NutraSweet. That is 80% of all complaints about food additives, yet the FDA remains complacent and has done nothing to alert the public who assume that since Nutrasweet is so highly advertised, it must be as safe as mother's milk.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology surveyed 80 people who suffered brain seizures after eating or drinking products with Aspartame. According to the U.S. Community Nutrition Institute: "These 80 cases meets the FDA's own definition of an imminent hazard to the public health, which requires the FDA to expeditiously remove a product from the market".

Perhaps FDA really stands for Fatal Drugs Allowed?

F.D.A. - The conflict of interests:

The NutraSweet Company and sister company G.D. Searle, whose chemists discovered Aspartame while testing an ulcer drug, are owned by the chemical giant Monsanto. Monsanto reaps $2 billion per year from the Aspartame bonanza. This can buy a lot of bureaucrats. For instance, in the early 1980s the head of the FDA, Arthur Hayes, overruled his own board of inquiry which had concluded that Aspartame was too dangerous to approve for marketing. After he overrode their decision and approved Aspartame, Mr. Hayes then went to work for the public relations firm of the company G.D. Searle. In a similar scenario, U.S. federal attorney Sam Skinner was assigned to prosecute G.D. Searle for fraudulent safety-tests. However, he switched sides and went to work for Searle's lawyers. The case against G.D. Searle died when the statute of limitations ran out.

Does the FDA work for industry or for citizens?

It is supposed to protect the public from dangerous products.

Aspartame and violence:

Phenylalanine in Aspartame lowers the seizure threshold in the brain and blocks the production of serotonin. The U.S. and other countries are swept by a rage of violence. Researchers attribute this in part to low serotonin levels in the brain, which produces depression, rage and paranoia. Instead of investigating and eliminating such chemical causes of violence, the U.S. Administration, Diet Coke in hand, programs billions of $$$ to buy prisons for the paranoid. Also consider that dangerous drugs such as Prozac (see Prozac leaflet) are prescribed to counter low brain serotonin levels. The chemical-pharmaceutical companies are laughing all the way to the bank. First, they make a mint out of Aspartame, and then, an extra fortune out of the drugs used to suppress the effects of Aspartame. Not to mention the other drugs and treatments used to suppress the adverse effects of those drugs.

Multiple Sclerosis:

If you are using Aspartame and have headaches, depression, slurred speech, loss of memory, fibromyalgia type symptoms, loss of sensation in lower legs or shooting pains, loss of equilibrium, vertigo, anxiety attacks, chronic fatigue, vision loss, floaters, retinal detachment, seizures, heart palpitations, etc. then you could have Aspartame DISEASE. Many physicians are diagnosing multiple sclerosis when in reality it is methanol toxicity which mimics MS. MS is not a death sentence, but methanol toxicity is. The first thing to do is stop consuming Aspartame right away.

Diabetes:

The American Diabetic Association, which receives megafunds from the manufacturers of NutraSweet, ignored a 1987 abstract submitted by Dr. H. J. Roberts (world expert on Aspartame and diabetic specialist) which summarised 58 diabetic Aspartame reactors. He says "I now advise ALL patients with diabetes and hypoglycemia to avoid Aspartame products." The Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock M.D., in his book Excitotoxins - the Taste that Kills, says Aspartame may trigger clinical diabetes. He also says that excitotoxins which can be found in such ingredients as NutraSweet literally stimulate neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees. Also, "What really concerns me about Aspartame is its association with brain tumors as well as pancreatic, uterine and ovarian tumors... and that so many develop an Alzheimer's-like syndrome with prolonged exposure." Numerous other 'independent' organisations such as the American Dietetic Association also receive large sums of money from the manufacturers of Aspartame. Is it any wonder that these so-called health authorities promote the use of Aspartame products?

Pregnancy risks:

The effects of Aspartame, even if consumed in very small doses, can be passed directly to the foetus. Foetal tissue cannot tolerate methanol. Dr. James Bowen has dubbed NutraSweet "instant birth control". The foetal placenta can concentrate phenylalanine and cause mental retardation.

Airline pilots & seizures:

Some people have suffered Aspartame related disorders with doses as small as that carried in a single stick of chewing gum. This could mean that airline pilots who drink diet sodas are more susceptible to flicker vertigo, or to flicker-induced epileptic activity. It also means that these pilots are potential victims of sudden memory loss, dizziness during instrument flight and gradual loss of vision. Some pilots have experienced grand-mal seizures in the cockpits of commercial airline flights and have lost medical certification to fly and with it their careers. How many aeroplane crashes have been due to the effects of Aspartame?

Gulf War Syndrome:

During the Gulf War Operation Desert Storm, truckloads of diet drinks cooked in the Arabian sun; at 86 degrees Aspartame liberates methanol in the can. Thousands of U.S. service men and women returned home with chronic fatigue syndrome and weird toxic symptoms - gulf war syndrome?

Diet Soda & Weight gain:

On July 28, 1983 the National Soft Drink Association (NSDA) drafted a 30 page protest questioning the safety of Aspartame in soft drinks. However, when they found that weight-conscious Americans would drink soda all day if it was sugarless, the NSDA forgot their objections. They also forgot to tell the public that Aspartame makes you crave carbohydrates and thus leads to weight gain. The formaldehyde in Aspartame stores in fat cells, particularly on the hips and thighs.

Perhaps this warning should be on every Aspartame/ NutraSweet/ Equal/ Spoonful product:

CHEMICAL POISON: KEEP OUT OF REACH OF HUMANS.

SPREAD THE MESSAGE: For further information on Aspartame e-mail betty@pd.org and put as the Subject line "send me help".

The above leaflet was authored by J. Citizen of EYE in 1996. It is based upon a leaflet prepared by MISSION POSSIBLE, 5950-H State Bridge Rd. Suite 215 Duluth, GA 30155 USA.

Things you can do:

•1. Take the 60-day No Aspartame Test and send Mission Impossible your case history.

•2. Tell your doctor and all of your friends!

•3. Return Asparcidal food to the store ie. anything with Monsanto's NutraSweet/Equal/Spoonful or Benevia or NatraTaste.